Scottish Executive

Aggregates Tax

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-18877 by Ross Finnie on 2 November 2001, what revenue it expects to be allocated from the Aggregates Tax Sustainability Fund in 2002-03.

Ross Finnie: I have nothing to add to the answer given to question S1W-18893 on 2 November 2001.

Bathing Waters

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19409 by Rhona Brankin on 9 November 2001, to whom, and by which departments or non-departmental public bodies, its most recent representations were made to the European Union in respect of the Bathing Waters Directive (76/160/EEC).

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19409 by Rhona Brankin on 9 November 2001, regarding what issues its most recent representations were made to the European Union in respect of the Bathing Waters Directive (76/160/EEC).

Allan Wilson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-20057 on 20 December 2001.

British-Irish Council

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the next meeting of the British-Irish Council will take place; which country will host the meeting, and whether the issue of drug misuse will be on the agenda.

Mr Jack McConnell: The next summit level meeting of the British-Irish Council will be hosted by Jersey in April 2002, and will focus on the issue of Knowledge Economy. Following that, we look forward to hosting a summit in Scotland in autumn 2002 on the subject of social inclusion, in conjunction with our colleagues in the National Assembly for Wales

  The British-Irish Council held its second summit meeting in Dublin on 30 November. The main focus of that meeting was the issue of drugs misuse, and how co-operation in this area might be developed within the British-Irish Council. The meeting was a useful and constructive one. It is clear that the other council members share the Executive’s commitment to protecting young people from the problems of drugs in our communities. There will be reports to future summits on the practical progress being made by members on tackling drugs matters together.

Caledonian MacBrayne

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has held with the Scottish Transport Group concerning a replacement programme for the older passenger ferries owned and managed by Caledonian MacBrayne.

Lewis Macdonald: Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd ceased to be part of the Scottish Transport Group in April 1990 and is now wholly owned by the Scottish ministers.

  We announced on 23 October details of two new vessels, the first for Mallaig-Armadale and the second for the Sound of Harris service between Leverburgh and Berneray. Delivery of these vessels will allow improvements to services on other routes, notably the redeployment of the ferry currently serving the Sound of Harris route to a new Sound of Barra service between Barra and Eriskay. Two further additions to the CalMac fleet, the MV Lochnevis and MV Hebrides, have come into service recently.

  We are considering the possible need for additional new vessels as part of our preparations for putting Caledonian MacBrayne’s routes out to tender in line with EC State aids requirements.

Children and Young People

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to support befriending programmes for socially, economically, behaviourally or emotionally disadvantaged children and young people.

Nicol Stephen: My answer to question S1W-20181 on 17 December 2001 gives details of our support to Big Brothers and Sisters to develop a network of mentoring projects throughout Scotland. In addition we provide support to some 32 national voluntary youth organisations to enable them to offer opportunities for personal and social development and friendship in disadvantaged areas that might otherwise lack such opportunities.

Dentists

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-17949 by Susan Deacon on 18 September 2001, whether the sub-group of the Scottish Advisory Committee on the Dental Workforce will consider funding a recruitment campaign in other European Union countries to attract dentists to work in the north-east of Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: The recruitment of NHS staff is a matter for NHS Boards and there are currently no plans for the Executive to specifically fund a recruitment campaign. The Recruitment and Retention sub-group of the Scottish Advisory Committee for the Dental Workforce is looking at all aspects of the recruitment and retention of dentists and is expected to report to the main committee early in 2002. I also refer the member to the answer to given question S1W-20031 on 18 December 2001.

Dentists

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce special payments to dental practitioners working in rural areas similar to the "Golden Hello" packages introduced to help doctors in such areas.

Malcolm Chisholm: Discussions are under way with the dental profession on improved support for dentists in remote areas.

Domestic Abuse

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the core funding arrangements for women’s refuges.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Action Plan in the National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland contains a series of recommendations about access to services, including refuge provision by Women’s Aid. The national Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland was established in June 2001 with a remit to oversee the implementation of the Action Plan over three years. A consideration of resourcing will be part of this remit.

Domestic Abuse

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has conducted any research into links between domestic violence, child abuse and animal abuse.

Ms Margaret Curran: No. Some relevant research has, however, been carried out in the USA and, to a lesser extent, in the UK.

Enterprise

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it is undertaking in order to enhance capacity-building and self-sufficiency in rural communities in Ayrshire and improve social inclusion in such communities.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive has a range of activities, over and above local initiatives by its partners, to address social injustice wherever it occurs in Scotland. In Ayrshire there are four Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIP), with the East Ayrshire Coalfields Area SIP in particular covering rural parts of the area. The SIP in Girvan also does outreach work to its surrounding rural communities and in North Ayrshire the SIP is moving on to take a more strategic look at exclusion across the area. Each partnership receives £60,000 from the Executive specifically for supporting community involvement and to build capacity and confidence in these excluded communities. We also have Kickstart, a programme to enhance the uptake of funding in our disadvantaged areas, by helping communities to help themselves.

  In addition, we have provided the Coalfields Regeneration Trust with £4.5 million over the last three years to support local activities in local coalfield communities, including those in Ayrshire. Communities Scotland is promoting and supporting a wider role for Registered Social Landlords, both in urban and in rural areas, through the provision of funding, information, advice and guidance.

  Scottish Rural Partnership Fund (SRPF), which is operated by an annual biding process, offers grant aid to rural communities to build community capacity and help communities to find local solutions to local problems. The closing date for applications to the 2002-03 round was 12 October 2001 and the bids received are currently being assessed. These include seven bids from the North, South and East Ayrshire areas combined. An announcement regarding successful projects will be made early in the New Year.

Housing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that contracts and sub-contracts for modernisation work arising from the proposed Glasgow housing stock transfer will be of a size that enables not just large but also small- and medium-sized Glasgow-based companies to win such contracts.

Ms Margaret Curran: These are matters for the Glasgow Housing Association, which will set out its proposals in its business plan. This business plan will be subject to a value for money assessment undertaken by Glasgow City Council as part of its consideration of the transfer proposal.

Landfill Tax

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which environmental organisations and projects in the West of Scotland have benefited from revenue raised from landfill tax in each year since 1999 and how much each such organisation or project received.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for ENTRUST, the regulator of the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme. The information requested is not held centrally.

Landfill Tax

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been paid in total since 1999 to date in landfill tax by each local authority in the west of Scotland.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for HM Customs and Excise. The information requested is not held centrally.

Local Government

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority charges for a market operator’s licence and for how long the licence is valid in each case.

Peter Peacock: This information is not available centrally. In setting fees for market operators, and certain other licensing activities contained in the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, local authorities are required from time to time to ensure that the total fees received meet the cost of exercising such functions. The duration of such licences is for the local authority to determine subject to a maximum duration of three years.

Local Government Elections

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to lower the current age limit of 21 years for those standing for election to local authorities.

Peter Peacock: Lowering the age limit for standing for local authority elections is included among the Kerley recommendations, which are currently being considered by the Ministerial Working Group.

NHS Staff

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9585 by Susan Deacon on 25 September 2000, whether the 10 extra consultant posts have all been successfully filled; whether the target for eight out of the 10 new consultants to be employed in the specialities of radiology and histopathology has been achieved, and how many trainee radiographers there were in 2000-01.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not currently available.

NHS Waiting Times

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce waiting times for services by allowing NHS primary care trusts to commission health services from other European Union member states.

Malcolm Chisholm: Scottish NHS primary care trusts are not responsible for commissioning health services, and consequently we have no such plans. However, we have announced a number of waiting times targets which will help to reduce waiting in the NHS, and this remains our top priority. We are establishing a national waiting times unit to ensure that available capacity in the NHS in Scotland and spare capacity in the independent health care sector are used to best effect to reduce waiting for NHS patients. We have no immediate plans to purchase health care capacity outside Scotland.

Planning

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what legislation, regulations and guidance relating to environmental protection and public safety a local authority must take into account when considering a planning application.

Ms Margaret Curran: The planning system does not seek to duplicate controls in other legislation. A grant of planning permission does not remove the need for a developer to comply with other legislation dealing with environmental protection or public safety.

  General advice on the role of the planning system in controlling pollution and its relationship with a number of environmental control regimes is given in Planning Advice Note 51 - Planning and Environmental Protection. It includes advice on planning proposals which raise environmental protection issues and the considerations which a planning authority might regard as material.

  A number of requirements are placed on planning authorities in relation to these matters including:

  The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Scotland) Order 1992 governs the processing of applications, including the bodies which should be consulted by the planning authority in particular circumstances. These bodies include Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA);

  the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999. Planning authorities must also consider whether an environmental impact assessment may be required. The Scottish Executive Development Department’s Circular 15 of 1999 contains guidance on the legislation and Planning Advice Note (PAN) 58 contains advice on best practice in this regard;

  the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994 also place obligations on planning authorities when considering proposals affecting European sites, as defined in the regulations. The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department has also published guidance in this regard;

  directions issued under planning legislation also require planning authorities to consult Scottish Natural Heritage regarding certain development in National Scenic Areas (Development Department Circular 9/1987) and aerodrome interests if developments are proposed in public safety zones or safeguarded areas (Development Department Circular 16/1982). These directions contain notification requirements so that in specified circumstances the planning applications may require to be notified to the Scottish ministers should the planning authority wish to grant planning permission;

  general notification directions (Development Department Circular 4/1997 as amended refers) set out the circumstances in which applications must be notified to the Scottish ministers. These directions include notification requirements in certain circumstances where SNH, SEPA or HSE have objected to a proposal. Notification allows the Scottish ministers to consider whether or not a planning application requires to be called in for their determination.

  The Executive produces National Planning Policy Guidelines (NPPG) on a variety of topics. Such guidance may constitute a material planning consideration when determining a planning application. For example, the NPPGs on Flooding and on Opencast Coal and Related Minerals contain information on environmental impact and minimising impacts on the public. Planning Advice Notes also provide advice on best practice and further information on a number of subject areas. Lists of NPPGs and PANs, and the text of many of these documents are available at www.scotland.gov.uk/planning.

  The National Planning Policy Guidelines, Planning Advice Notes and circulars (including the guidance on the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994) referred to in this answer can be obtained from the Executive.

Post Office

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty’s Government regarding a proposal by Consignia to end second post deliveries.

Ross Finnie: Consignia and postal services are reserved matters. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues including matters relating to Consignia.

Recycling

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of waste paper is currently recycled.

Ross Finnie: Waste paper is produced in many different forms by a wide range of public and private sector organisations as well as householders. Information on the percentage of total waste paper currently recycled is not held centrally.

Recycling

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of packaging is currently recycled.

Ross Finnie: The latest year for which firm data are available is 2000. During that year the UK recovered 41.9% of packaging materials and this included 36.4% recovered by recycling.

Renewable Energy

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how (a) Scottish Enterprise and (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise are promoting the development of renewable energy as part of their strategies for key commercial and industrial sectors.

Ross Finnie: Both Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise have commissioned studies into the wider economic benefits that could be derived in their respective areas from the development of Scotland’s renewable energy resource.

  Highlands and Islands Enterprise is currently working with a number of clients to take forward renewable energy projects. In particular, it is assisting Vestas establish a wind turbine manufacturing base in Argyll and is progressing the Marine Energy Test Centre project in conjunction with the Executive, Scottish Enterprise and other public sector partners. The latter project is proposed for Orkney and, if confirmed, will assist the development of the marine energy industry in Scotland.

  In addition, Scottish Enterprise took a roadshow round Scotland last year encouraging companies to consider diversifying into renewable energy systems. Several of these companies are now pursuing opportunities for new business.

Renewable Energy

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how long the study into the costs and feasibility of a heavy duty cable network to take electricity from wind farms and wave energy devices from the Highlands and Islands to English markets will take.

Ross Finnie: We understand that this study, which has been commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry, is due to report shortly.

Roads

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Amey Highways Ltd and BEAR (Scotland) Ltd have enough plant resource in place to meet the requirements of Section 5 of Schedule 7, Part 2 of the Term Contract for Management and Maintenance of the Scottish Trunk Road Network for each contract area, and, if not, how much plant resource to meet the requirements of Section 5 remains outstanding, broken down by contract area.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-20202 on 19 December 2001.

Teachers

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that those who wish to pursue a career in teaching by way of the Postgraduate Certificate of Education and who are leaving a career in the private or public sector are not deterred from doing so by reason of the level of starting salary.

Nicol Stephen: There have been significant improvements in pay, conditions and opportunities for teachers arising from the Agreement on a Teaching Profession for the 21st Century , in addition to the positive benefits of joining a re-invigorated profession.

  Negotiations on a range of issues relating to pay and conditions are continuing through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT). A proposal from the SNCT Working Group on Conditions of Service that all probationers would start on the probationer point on the pay scale (£16,644 as from August 2002, rising to £18,000 from August 2003) will be considered at the next meeting of the SNCT on 31 January.

Waste Management

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce a responsibility on producers of packaging for disposing of packaging in an environmentally acceptable way

Ross Finnie: Producer responsibility for packaging is already in place. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 require most manufacturers and users of packaging materials and products to ensure the recovery of 56% and recycling of 18% of the packaging materials which they handle. It is proposed to increase these targets to 61% and 20%, respectively, from 2002. There are no plans to extend producer responsibility to the disposal of the balance of packaging waste not recovered, although all holders of waste have a duty of care to ensure it is disposed of properly.

Waste Management

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what applications have been received for grants from the Strategic Waste Fund in each of the financial years (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01 and (c) 2001-02.

Ross Finnie: The Strategic Waste Fund was established in November 2000 for the implementation of the National Waste Strategy. There were therefore no applications in 1999-2000. In 2000-01 32 applications from local authorities were received for a share of £3 million for recycling and composting projects. All 32 were awarded grants. In 2001-02 one application has been received to date. That was from Argyll and Bute Council. An award was made in September 2001 towards its waste management Public/Private Partnership project.

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any guidance has been issued to retailers regarding the sale of refrigerators in light of the advice issued by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Ross Finnie: No.